


Textbooks are Expensive and I'm Running Out of Coffee

by MJPeterNed



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Library, Maybe - Freeform, Sort Of, Spideychelle, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-02-16 04:27:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21501865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MJPeterNed/pseuds/MJPeterNed
Summary: The little library that Michelle loves so much only has one copy of one of the most important books currently in her life. The really expensive college textbook that she has to be able to read to pass her course. But what happens when someone else needs it too.Basically, a bit like a Coffee Shop AU but they meet in a library instead.
Relationships: Betty Brant & Michelle Jones, Betty Brant & Ned Leeds, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker
Comments: 42
Kudos: 114





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just so you know in this Peter is not Spider-Man.
> 
> Hope it is ok.
> 
> I don't know if this has already been done, so sorry if it has.
> 
> It was inspired by a tumblr post I saw on Pinterest but I can't find the owner of the post but credit to them.
> 
> Find me on [Tumblr](http://mj-peter-ned.tumblr.com) if you want.

MJ had set up her own little study corner in a secluded area of the library where there were little interruptions and people only passed by quickly if they were intensely searching for a certain book. This was the way she liked it; by herself; quiet; just the books and her jumbo flask of tea. Studying was becoming a critical part of her life once again and distractions were met with a death glare, something she had perfected long ago back in middle school.

Her shared apartment was currently out of bounds for peaceful studying. Her roommate was one of her best friends but tranquility was not their strong point, so the library was becoming her temporary home. The only downside to the library was that, while it had all the textbooks she needed, they only had one copy of the most important one and it was not allowed to leave the premises. 

Looking up from her tenth page of notes, all highlighted and categorized by colour, she met the eyes of the boy with a mop of brown hair, who had been standing, searching the bookcase in front of her with a fine tooth comb.

‘You looking for anything in particular or are you just going to stand there?’ she questioned.

‘No, no, no,’ he said in a bit of a panic, ‘there’s just this one book I need but I can’t find it anywhere. I know it’s not supposed to leave the library but those books are too expensive and I wouldn’t blame anyone for nicking it but, like, my whole college degree is riding on that book. It’s the bright yellow one, have you see it?’ The boy rambled.

Michelle slowly looked down at the books spread out on the table in front of her. Her eyes met with the luminous yellow book sat open in front of her. She knew full well that it was there but she was very particular in her ways and she wasn’t sure whether he was going to disrupt that or not. After a long pause and a lot of thinking she finally looked up at the pleading eyes staring down at her.

‘Yeah, I know that one. Someone usually has it though.’ She paused. ‘Luckily for you, today it’s me. If you sit quietly and don’t interrupt my uptake of knowledge I’ll let you use it too. Deal?’

‘Yes. Oh my God, thank you. You are a lifesaver.’ He said stumbling into the chair located next to her.

He grabbed his pen out of his pocket and pulled a pad of paper out of his bag, which was rammed full of odds and ends. Harmoniously, they worked alongside one another with the unnamed boy respectfully following the ground rules MJ had set down earlier.

Michelle was peacefully copying out the last of the page for this section when a sudden judder of the table forced her pen over the rest of neatly laid out work, leaving a coloured trail. She whipped her head around with a death glare radiating from her eyes. She was going to have to spend extra time that she didn’t have rewriting all her hard work and notes up. To say she was fuming would be a bit of an understatement.

As her head flew around to see the cause of her annoyance, her eyes landed on the boy next to her. He was lifting his head up of the table with a sort of dazed expression on his face. One of his hands went up to rub a darkening patch of skin on his forehead. When his eyes finally met Michelle’s, his eyes widened to what would have been a comical size, if it were not for the situation. His eyes fell down onto the piece of paper that lay on the table and the pen gripped threateningly tight in her hand.

‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t do that on purpose. I think I ran out of caffeine.’ He attempted in a jokey tone.

Michelle just glared back at him, taking a deep breathe.

The boy silently lowered his head, as if almost ashamed of what he had done, and started writing his notes once again, withering under MJ’s stare.

As the afternoon continued, the lights fluttered on and the sun drifted below the horizon. The luminous yellow book lay between the two, having all its information drawn out and absorbed in attempts to pass the exams. The scrape of metal chair legs against the floor alerted Michelle to the movement of the person next to her.

‘I’m going to go get some coffee, or something more highly caffeinated, do you want anything?’ a voice questioned.

‘Green tea if there is any. I’ll pay you back when you return.’ She mumbled not looking away from her work, scared of losing her place.

‘Cool, I’ll be back in a bit.’ He said walking towards the door of the library.

She casted her eyes up as he left, tracing his movements with her eyes. She wondered if he knew there was a little tea station on the other side of the library. Granted, it wasn’t the best quality of stuff but it had got her through some tough nights, so it would always have a special place in her heart. She returned her tired eyes back to the pages of notes on the table and fell into her studying trance once again.

The appearance of a shadow looming over her brought her back out and plunged her into reality. A steaming paper cup of green tea was place in front of her, the hand being careful not to spill any over the table. She noted the smiley face drawn on it.

Carefully sitting down next to her, the boy placed his drink down next to hers.

‘Sorry about the smiley face, I realized I didn’t actually know what your name was but by then I had already placed the order.’

‘I don’t mind but you do know there’s coffee over there, right?’ she said waving her arm vaguely towards the other side of the library.

‘Yeah, but this place is so much better. I’m also pretty sure that my coffee consumption is the one thing keeping the little coffee shop I go to running. They also give you free cookies when you order.’ He said producing multiple cookies out of a bag she had not noticed.

‘I didn’t know what flavor you like so I just sort of got one of every flavor so we could split then when I knew.’

‘Thanks.’ She said while she helped him sort the cookies out into two equal piles.

‘It’s sort of an apology for earlier too. I know how annoying it is when people disturb you while you’re trying to studying. I’ve got four roommates. That’s part of the reason I’m here other than this stupidly expensive textbook.’ He said wafting his arm at the book.

‘I’ve got a noisy roommate too but just one. She’s my best friend too but our work ethic seems to differ slightly.’

‘Yeah, my friends are just winging the test tomorrow but I sort of have to do well in it and I’ve still got two more chapters to get through for tomorrow morning before I even start on the stuff I’m actually supposed to do as follow up reading for the class.’ He said with a little laugh.

‘Better get studying then.’ She said with a laugh.

This wasn’t normal for MJ, usually people really got on her nerves and every little thing they did would drive her up the wall but she couldn’t even find herself to be mad at the accident earlier, after all he did bring her an excellent drink and cookies.

Michelle reached into her bag and grabbed her purse, getting ready to repay him for her tea. She must admit that the tea was some of the best she had ever tasted. Just as she was about to get his attention she realized she didn’t even know his name.

As she looked over to his side of their shared table she spotted his cup of coffee. On it was written the name _Peter_ as well as his order. Her inquisitive nature just had to know what was in the cup that seemed to have filled the entire room with its scent. From the label all she could make out was the words _8x Expresso_.

‘Peter, how much do I owe you for the tea?’ she asked, feeling slightly nervous for a reason she could not pinpoint.

‘Hm, oh nothing. It’s on me.’ He said barely drawing his eyes away from his work.

‘You can’t do that. I said I would pay you back.’

‘I don’t mind. I interrupted your studying, I buy you tea. That’s how it works.’ He said with a sense of finality in his voice.

Realizing that this conversation wasn’t going to achieve anything, Michelle gave a sigh in defeat and put her money away. She couldn’t believe she was letting this boy with a stupid mop of brown hair and stupid big brown doe eyes rule over her like this.

As the hands on the clock met once again, pointing up towards the twelve, the pair were forced to tidy up their notes and place that lifeline of a yellow textbook back up onto the shelf it belonged on. The lights flipped off shortly after they left, leaving them in the glow of the streetlamps.

‘Guess I’ll be seeing you at some point unless that library gets another copy of that book.’

‘Yeah, that seems about right.’

‘Goodnight, Peter.’

‘Goodnight…’

‘Michelle but you can call me MJ.’

‘OK. Goodnight MJ. See you soon.’ He said emphasizing her name.

They slowly parted ways, heading towards their respective apartments for the night. They both would have to hide the upturned corners of their mouths from the prying eyes of their roommates as they entered their rooms, both hoping to run into one another soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Michelle was the first one to reach her apartment. She swung open her door, revealing her roommate sat in front the TV with the volume turned up high and a bowl of popcorn balanced in her lap.

‘I’m back.’ Michelle said, placing her bag down on the kitchen counter.

Her roommate didn’t move a muscle.

‘I’m back.’ She repeated at a louder volume, trying to get the attention of her engrossed roommate.

Still no movement came from the body on the couch apart from the rhythmic movement of hand to mouth with popcorn.

Deciding that shouting would ruin the mostly good mood she was in, she took a few long steps to reach the back of the couch and tapped her friend on the shoulder three times.

Her roommate leapt from the couch in a state of panic, getting into a fighting stance with popcorn raining down on both her and MJ from the bowl which had been discarded upwards.

‘WHAT THE HELL?’ she yelled, glaring Michelle in the eyes, ‘I thought you were someone trying to attack me. Couldn’t you just tell me like a normal person and aren’t you supposed to be studying for that test you have at some point?’

‘Yes, but it is much more fun for me to do it this way. You weren’t paying any attention anyway. The library closed a while ago so we got kicked out. Also, you have that test too Betty, don’t forget.’ MJ laughed.

‘Yeah, well we’re in college, it’s almost a sin not to have fun and let loose a little bit.’ Betty retorted.

‘You have met my parents haven’t you? I did subject you to that pain right?’

‘MJ, I am never going to forget that day and what did you mean be we, earlier, you hate social interactions.’

‘Hate is a strong word. I prefer strongly despise.’ MJ said grabbing a leftover carton of takeout from earlier that night off the coffee table.

‘Still haven’t answered the question of who we is. I have known you basically my whole life, I know how you skirt round questions you strongly despise.’  
‘I meant… er… me and the others in the library who are trying to get good grades and actually pass their courses. Anyway, I’m going to bed now.’ MJ retorted, heading towards her room.

‘Did you just stumble with your words there, are you feeling alright?’ noticing that Michelle wasn’t going to turn around, she just yelled louder. ‘You know I’m just going to thoroughly interrogate you in the morning. You can’t escape me Michelle Jones. Oh, I also need to tell you about this cute boy I met on my course today.’

* * *

Betty never gave empty threats. When MJ trudged out of her room in the morning to have some breakfast she was met with a bombard of questions.

‘Who is we? Did you meet someone? A boy? A girl? Someone else? Someone from your course? A secret significant other I have never heard of before? Do you like them? Are they cute?’

‘Didn’t you want to tell me about a cute boy you met on your course yesterday?’ MJ mumbled half-wake, somehow dodging all of the questions she really didn’t to answer at this time in the morning, or ever to be honest.

‘How could I have forgotten? He’s amazing. He’s lived in New York for as long as he can remember and he’s so sweet. Like unbelievably sweet. It’s like he’s only doing it to be kind but he is generally being the kindest person ever. He gave me one of his pencils when I couldn’t find mine. He’s so smart, like incredibly smart. He doesn’t brag about it either. MJ he’s just like the most brilliant person ever.’ Betty rambled, getting more and more into what she was saying as she continued.  
‘What’s his name?’

‘Ned’

‘Cool.’ She was relieved, it wasn’t library boy Peter. Why was she relieved at that?

‘So how did the mystery library person get you to notice them?’

‘He bought me tea.’ MJ said, not registering what she was saying.

‘Oh my god. What’s his name?’

Michelle looked up in surprise at the question with her eyes wide.

‘I’ve got to get to school. Bye Betty.’

Michelle got up and raced out the door before Betty could say anything in return. She hadn’t meant to tell Betty any details about Peter. She knew from experience, that once a little bit of information had leaked out, the rest would be forced out of her in ways she hadn’t noticed until the details were out in the open for all to see.

Betty was her best friend and had been since freshman year. She was the only one who didn’t seem to mind about Michelle’s slightly abrasive attitude towards others around her and continued to hang out with her, unlike everyone else who began to ignore her near the start of the year. It wasn’t that Michelle was mean to them; she just had built tall barriers around her. It was the way she protected herself from everything going on in her surroundings. She preferred to block everyone out and not get hurt again instead of trying to let them in. She was just very selective on who got to see the actual Michelle Jones. Betty was one of those lucky few.

Making her way onto the college campus and eventually into the room she was in, she put on her headphones. She loved listening to music. Even if she didn’t have music playing through her headphones, just having them on was basically a universal sign for ‘don’t talk to me’, something she was grateful for. She didn’t really like talking to people she had never met as it made her uncomfortable but the small talk that came with it just bumped it up to the next level of awkwardness.

Walking into the room, she was met with a few fellow students, who were much better at time management than the majority of her class. She was only five minutes late and the professor hadn’t even arrived yet so she was doing well. She took her usual seat off to the right hand side of the room, not sat near anyone. A few minutes later, a hoard of students and the professor arrived and the start of the lesson officially began.

* * *

Once the lesson had been finished and extra research and studying had been set, the usual journey from the college campus to the secluded warm corner in the library was trekked. It wasn’t that long of a journey but the heavy weight of the books and supplies on her back always seemed to weigh her down and make the walk seem at least twice as long as usual.

The familiar and welcoming sight of the library grew closer and closer until the front doors were in MJ’s reach. She yanked open the door with a sense of urgency and took the final step to be enclosed in the building. Silently, she made her way over to the corner she had claimed as hers and scanning the bookshelves for the textbook she needed as she went.

Her heartrate began to increase as she looked over where she knew the textbook should be but wasn’t. Her eyes flicked backwards and forwards, still spotting no sign of the book. Heading over to her corner in a last ditch attempt to find it, she finally let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding.

Sat in her corner was the book and, most importantly, Peter. Wait, no. Sat in her corner was Peter and, most importantly, the book, also known as the only way she was going to pass her class. Peter had sat down in the seat he was in the day before, leaving MJ’s usual seat vacant for her to sit in. On the table were two cups of steaming hot drinks, exactly the same as yesterday but instead of a smiley face drawn upon her cup, there was her name written in a neat cursive font.

At that moment, Peter looked up and smiled at her.

‘Hey, I got you that tea you liked again. Wasn’t sure if you were going to turn up or if you’d hidden somewhere else in the library but the book was still on the shelf so I assumed you just hadn’t gotten here yet.’ Peter said in an almost whisper, respecting the rules of the library.

‘Thanks’ MJ whispered almost silently back.

She quietly took her seat next to him and brought out everything she needed for her studying. She brought out equipment after equipment, filling up her side of the table, before she finally pushed her bag off of her lap and onto the floor under the table.

‘How are you so organised? I can barely find my alarm clock in the morning despite its insistent beeping.’ Peter questioned.

‘Sort of just grew up in that sort of environment, guess it just sort of rubbed off on me.’ She took a deep breath and turned her pad of paper to the correct page. ‘Everything always had its correct place and it had to be there. I suppose it’s just ingrained in my mind that everything has to have its own spot.’

‘Yeah, my aunt wasn’t really like that. She has all these miniature ornaments and trinkets scattered around the place but they all have their own little stories. It probably didn’t help with me leaving all my stuff around the place either.’ Peter said with a little laugh, getting back to scribbling some important notes down on his paper and Michelle following suit.

Peter let out an annoyed groan, running his pen on the paper over and over again with it leaving no inky trail behind it.

‘You good there?’ Michelle said with an amused smile.

‘My stupid pen ran out and it’s the only one I’ve got on me.’ Peter moaned, stabbing his paper with it.

‘You only brought one pen and you’re calling it stupid?’

‘Yes, it knows I desperately need these note so it decided it would just give up on me.’ He sighed exaggeratedly, plonking his head on the table.

MJ had to try and conceal her laughter. It wasn’t very successful.

‘Do you have one I can borrow, if I promise not to destroy it?’ he pleaded with his puppy dog eyes.

‘Fine. One pen for the idiot coming up.’ She said reaching into one of her various pencil cases.

‘You know, Michelle, it’s not very nice calling people idiots.’ He said matter-of-factly.

‘Ok. One pen for the loser coming up.’ She said in a comical tone, handing Peter one of her pens.

‘Thanks.’

A few hours later Peter’s phone chimed. Looking down at the phone he shook his head and proceeded to look up apologetically at Michelle.

‘Hey, sorry but I’ve got to go, my roommates have managed to set fire to the oven again and would you believe me if I said I was the most sensible out of all of them and there’s four of them?’ Peter smiled.

‘I’m not sure if I should be more concerned that you said again and are acting like this is a daily occurrence or that you are the most sensible. Anyway, go save your roommates, I’ll see you tomorrow if you haven’t burnt to a crisp by then.’ She replied with a small wave.

‘Bye.’ He said rushing out the door, trying to wave without dropping everything he was carrying, which made him look more like a t-rex than anything else.

His long forgotten hoodie lay scrunched up on the back of his chair. It looked like Michelle was going to have to hold onto it until she saw him again.


	3. Chapter 3

Fortunately for Michelle, Betty had been too caught up telling her about Ned to notice the new item of clothing she was sporting. In MJ’s defence, the night-time’s air’s temperature had dramatically dropped once the sun had gone down, causing a light chill in everything it touched and the hoodie was fluffy and warming. It was logic really. In order to return Peter’s hoodie, she needed to be alive; in order to be alive, she needed to not get ill; in order to not get ill, she needed to stay warm. It was all for Peter’s sake really.

Once Betty had talked herself into a fatigued state and gone to bed to be ready to see Ned the next day, Michelle went into her room to sort out the notes she had made earlier in the day. Each set of notes had a place they belonged. One shelf of one of the bookcases in her room belonged to a set of colour coordinated ring binders, where the majority of her educational resources were stored.

The rest of the bookshelves were filled up with a variety of books, all read through thoroughly at least three times, some of her favourites had been read many, many times more. A few books lay in a pile on her bedside table, next to her reading lamp and phone charger. Her bed was neatly made, just like it always was. Her clothes hung neatly on their hangers in her tucked away wardrobe, while her few pairs of clean shoes were lined up against the wall near the door.

Her room was the only place in her and Betty’s little shared apartment that was as organised as it was. Since living without her parents watching over her, not everything seemed in such need of its own place but her room was an area where she needed to be able to relax, so things had their places there.

As she sifted through her newly written notes, she categorised them into their own special groups. One of the bottom pieces of paper was mostly blank and seemed out of place, compared to all the other pieces of paper. Scanning the piece of paper her eyes saw a little note was written on it. Along with what seemed to be a phone number was a short handwritten message.

_To make sure one of us has possession of that stupid textbook._

_-Peter :)_

She smiled at the note. It was such a Peter thing to do.

Entering the number into her phone along with his name, she carefully filed the piece of paper away into a different section of her room.

 **MJ:** Good idea loser.

 **Peter:** Hi MJ :)

 **MJ:** This could just be a random person for all you know. They could have picked up a random piece of paper up off the street and decided to text the number on it.

 **Peter:** 1\. You’re the only one who calls me loser. 2.You wouldn’t lose any of your notes, you’re organised.

 **MJ:** You have no proof.

 **Peter:** Guess I’ll just have to stick to talking to a random stranger then.

 **MJ:** Guess so.

The corners of MJ’s mouth tilted upwards into a smile at their short exchange, before she cleared up all the notes on her floor and got ready for bed herself.

The bright moonlight shone through the thin curtains MJ had put up when she had first moved into the apartment. They really weren’t the best but they were cheap and did a good enough job for her, which is all she could ask of something bought on a student budget. Michelle was curled up in her bed with her little bedside lamp pouring light onto the pages of the book in her grasp. One of her absolute favourite past times was reading in her bed as the evening drew on and slowly faded into dawn. There was just something calm about being awake in the darkness when everything seemed to slow down just a little bit.

* * *

As the morning light invade her room, Michelle cracked open her eyes. She was in a very crunched up position that almost resembled the foetal position; she must have fallen asleep reading her book again. She was never keen on doing that as usually it ended up with pages in her book becoming creased due to the movement in her sleep. She cautiously looked over to where she anticipated the book to be, hoping for the best. Thankfully, the pages had been saved by some miracle but she had lost the page she was on. It could have been worse but it was still a bad start to the morning.

She should have known that this was just the start.

She slowly uncurled herself from the bed, joints cracking as she did so. She put on an extra jumper, grabbed off her chair to combat the coldness she felt, and headed into the main area of the apartment to get her first coffee of the morning.

As she approach the little kitchen she noted Betty eating a bowl of cereal with what appeared to be milk. To many people this would have seemed like a usual occurrence but not for the pair of teens. Betty much preferred to eat something like a pizza or cold leftovers for breakfast than have what others thought of as a normal breakfast. Michelle wasn’t much of a breakfast person herself but when she did have something it would often be something she picked up from a bakery on her way to class.

Michelle dragged herself over to the coffee machine plugged in on the kitchen counter opposite to the door, pulling the hoodie closer to her body to try and rid herself of the coolness of the air. Her morning coffee was a vital part of her morning routine and had to be one of the first things completed. Usually, she preferred to drink tea but mornings were a special occasion and it was deemed necessary.

Before she could start making her lifeline of a coffee, she received some of the worst news at that moment from her roommate.

‘Electricity is out. Not sure how widely but college is out too. Guess they should have looked into that alternative energy source last year. I’m going back to sleep. I might go out to see Ned later. Nice hoodie.’ Betty said as she shoved her bowl further onto the counter and proceeded to stumble back into her room.

If MJ didn’t know better she would have thought that she was drunk or, at least, severely hungover.

As the coffee machine continued showing no sign of life, Michelle let out a groan of annoyance. She had to survive a whole day without her coffee or any heating in the little apartment or any entertainment provided by the TV. At least she had been smart enough to plug her phone into charge the previous evening.

Looking down at her phone, she noted that she had no new notifications or messages from anyone. She wasn’t really surprised by that though. She only ever got messages from Betty or someone from her course asking about homework on a group chat and, since yesterday, Peter.

Her finger hovered over his icon. She didn’t know why she wanted to message him, she hates messaging people first but boredom got the better of her.

She clicked on his icon.

 **MJ:** You having a power cut too?

 **Peter:** Yes. College is off too.

 **MJ:** Want to go study at the library?

She never asked people to study with her, especially at the library but it seemed like Peter was going to have to be a special case.

 **Peter:** I’m already at the library (thank god they are open despite the power outage) but please come join me. It feels wrong without you.

MJ’s heart sped up a bit as her eyes read over the message again; treacherous heart.

 **MJ:** I’ll be there in a bit. I’m heading over now.

 **Peter:** Yay. Thanks.

At that moment, MJ seemed to snap awake. Why had she agreed to do something while half asleep? It didn’t matter now but she really wondered why she let herself make decisions in a half-conscious state. She had only done it a couple of times but they all seemed to end badly, it didn’t matter what they were. This was the least of her worries now. She had agreed to meet Peter and she was still wearing her pyjamas and what appeared to be his hoodie.

She needed to get changed.

Now.

She hurried into her room, forgetting all about her coffeeless state. She carefully removed Peter’s hoodie from her body before yanking off her sleepwear and shoving on a pair of fairly decent jeans and a clean top. Adjusting her hair into a bun type thing on the top of her head, she tried to shove her feet into her shoes without falling over. Once steady and upright, she pulled Peter’s hoodie back over her head- his was already warm and all of hers were waiting to be washed, sue her- grabbed her keys, bag and phone and headed out the door without waking Betty.

Normally, Michelle’s morning routine would take much longer than it had this morning. After her coffee or two had been downed, she would start her routine by taking a shower. There was no way she was taking a shower this morning; their shower was cold enough with their dodgy heater but ice cold water droplets being sprayed at her would have been torture.

Having skipped breakfast at home, she was reminded of the need to eat by a large rumble emitted from her stomach on the way to the library. Luckily, her favourite place to stop and buy a snack lay between the library and her apartment, its location being optimum for her late night food escapades.

The door of the shop swung open with a light ring of a bell at her entrance. She was greeted by the welcoming smiles of the employees, some whom she’d become personally acquainted with and even friends with a few. Scanning over the range of food they had, she decided upon buying a selection of pastries. She had seen first-hand Peter’s sweet tooth with the amount of cookies he brought back from the coffee shop and eaten during the few times she had spent time with him in the library.

Grabbing the box of pastries off the top of the counter, after paying of course, she made her way back out the door and continued her short journey towards the library. Her pace was slightly faster than normal, either to do with the chilly temperature of the outside air or the destination. While both these reasons were correct, even slightly tending towards the latter, only the first one would ever be voiced by Michelle herself.

Once again, the concrete building seemed to open its arms to MJ, as she got closer, until she was embraced inside its walls. The warmth inside was a welcoming change to the rest of her morning and she was just grateful that someone had been kind enough to lend the library some battery powered heaters. Due to the lack of the lights, the area was more dimly lit but that didn’t deter her from coming or a few other people, mostly students, it seemed.

Thankfully, her little corner was preoccupied by Peter and only Peter; no one else had tried to sit with him. Peter looked up from the book, smiling as his eyes caught hers. The contagious smile spread onto her face too.

‘Hi. It’s weird here without you.’ Peter said in a whisper, as Michelle sat down in her chair.

‘Yeah, you mentioned that in one of your texts earlier. How long have you been here anyway?’ She questioned placing her bag on the floor and the pastries on the table.

‘Early. I don’t even remember properly; it seems so long ago.’ He chuckled.

‘That bad?’

‘Yes. Four roommates, without any electricity. No videogames and none of them seem to charge their devices until they completely run out. No way am I getting in the middle of that chaotic madness.’ Peter said with a small shake of his head.

‘My roommate just went back to bed. To be honest, I’m surprised she even got up in the first place.’

Michelle opened the lid of the pastries, stuffing one in her mouth, gesturing to Peter to let him know that he could have some too. Peter smiled, thanking her, and picked one up, before a lightbulb seemed to go off in his head. He reached down into his bag and produced two steaming cups with the little café that Peter had visited yesterday’s logo on.

‘By some miracle they could still make this without electricity. Thought it might be a nice change from the coldness everywhere else for you.’

‘Thanks.’ Michelle said, definitely not smiling at the fact that Peter was thinking of what would make her happy.

They day grew progressively colder, resulting in one completely compulsory action. Sitting right next to each other with their sides pressed together, trying to conserve heat for that reason and that reason only. The light levels dropped until reading the book was near impossible and the library had to close. One of the librarians, who both had seen on multiple occasions but neither had had the time to talk to like they usually would do, approached the pair.

‘Just warning you guys. The library will be closed for an undisclosed amount of time. They were due to start repairs and maintenance in a few months’ time but this power outage has caused a need for an immediate start.’ She said in an almost unbothered tone.

The two looked at each other in horror. How were they supposed to survive without the library? More importantly, how could they pass their class without this book?

‘Can we take this book out then please?’ Michelle asked calmly, a stark contrast to how she was feeling inside.

‘I’m sorry that will not be possible. It must stay in the library.’ She said, not even attempting to act at all apologetic.

‘No one’s going to be using it here, so why can’t we take it?’

‘It’s the rules.’ Maurine, as her badge stated, said and walked away, leaving the teens to pack up and leave.

The two packed up in silence, a slight air of annoyance surrounding them; not aimed at each other in anyway but more like a mutual feeling. They slowly rose out of their seats getting ready to leave. Maurine had an eye trained of them, looking for any sign of them taking book, so they couldn’t take the option of doing just that and picking up the book and leaving with it.

As they exited through the door bookless, they were blasted by the cold air of the evening and their stomachs managed a synchronized rumble, breaking the tension like feeling that was sort of between them. The broke out laughing, before turning slowly into giggles.

‘Guess that’s what we get for skipping a proper lunch.’ Peter gasped, trying to catch his breath.

‘Yeah.’ MJ smiled.

‘Want to go and get some food together or something then sort out what we are going to do about our lack of that stupid textbook. There’s a good pizza place down the road that always seems to be open, if you like that sort of thing.’

‘Yeah, that sounds good. Pizza is always a welcome meal, especially when I can’t just shove something in the oven at home.’

They slowly made their way down the silent street. The shop signs still showed no sign of life or the power being restored. The evening air, despite being quite cold, still provided a calming sensation with no breeze to be felt. As they walked side by side, their footsteps sounded out a steady rhythm.

Peter turned to face Michelle slightly but no so much to change his body’s direction.

‘Nice hoodie by the way.’


	4. Chapter 4

Just like Peter had predicted, the pizza place was open; their pizza ovens not requiring electricity. The pair decided to take a seat inside the fairly vacant restaurant, not wanting to order it as take out only for it to get stone cold in an instant from being outside.

They ordered two pizzas to share, I mean if you’re going to order two you might as well try them both. The little table they had to themselves sat two and was right next to one of large windows, looking out onto the quiet street. The calm and quite laid back ambience of the place was ideal for Peter and MJ. Thanks to the power outage, nobody seemed to be on their phones and people were actually talking to one another, a small miracle in this day and age.

‘So the small issue with the textbook…’ Peter started, after finishing his second mouthful of pizza.

‘Yeah, that small issue. There’s no way I can afford it. Does college even realise how tight a student’s budget is?’

‘Honestly, I don’t think so. I can probably just afford to pay for half of it, you know?’

‘Same here. It’s ridiculous; we already pay so much to go to college why should we have to cash out so much extra just to get a book we need to pass the class.’ Michelle leaned her head against the table in annoyance, being careful not to put her head on or get her hair in the remaining pizza.

Peter opened his mouth, as though he was going to say something, before closing it.

He opened it again.

And closed it again.

He took a deep breath.

‘We could like share custody.’ He finally said, looking down at the table

‘What do you mean?’ Michelle picked her head up off the table slightly and looked curiously at Peter.

‘Well we could like split the cost so we only pay half each and then just share it or study together with it. I mean if you wanted to. We don’t have to; it was just a suggestion…’ Peter began to ramble.

‘Ok.’ MJ said, causing Peter’s jumble of words flowing out of his mouth to halt.

‘Wait. You’re actually agreeing to my idea?’

‘Yes but it’s a onetime thing, Loser. It’s the only option we have and I need to pass this class.’ She said with a hint of fondness in her voice and a slight upturn of the corners of her mouth.

‘I can now, officially, say that not all my ideas are idiotic when you complain about them again.’ Peter said with a wide smile stretching over his face.

‘One out of many but I suppose that it’s still quite an achievement for you.’ She joked, reaching in for another slice of pizza. ‘Oh and by the way, we are not referring to it as shared custody.’

‘Fine. But for the record, I think it’s a great term for it.’

‘You keep thinking that.’ MJ retorted.

Peter reached in to take a slice of pizza.

Their hands brushed slightly, freezing them both while causing a surge of heat to rise to their cheeks. Quickly retracting their hands, still holding onto their slices of pizza (thankfully different ones), they looked down slightly, avoiding each other’s eyes.

An influx of people had crowded the pizza place, creating an almost unbearable atmosphere filled with a cacophony of chatter. Leaving behind a small tip, the teens made an escape out the door into the cool, quiet night-time air. Apparently the chatter between the two had lasted a lot longer than either of them had anticipated and instead of it still being late afternoon/early evening it was much later.

‘You want to go get stupid book now so we can actually do something productive tomorrow?’ Michelle questioned.

‘Is anywhere actually open at this time of night?’

Instead of answering, or thinking apparently, MJ grabbed Peter’s wrist and pulled him down the street. The lack of streetlights made the walk a lot more intimidating than it usually would be, drawing the two closer to one another both for warmth and peace of mind.

Michelle stopped abruptly outside a little bookshop.

‘You know it really doesn’t look open. We can just come tomorrow.’ Peter whispered, peering into the dark shop window.

‘It’s fine; I know the owner.’ MJ replied nonchalantly.

Michelle pulled a small key chain out of her pocket. There were three keys and a small picture of her and Betty at graduation, as well as a little engraved quote on a book shaped charm.

_Knowledge is the key to success._

Michelle noted Peter eyeing the keychain.

‘My roommate got it for me when we first moved in together. I probably should have got her one too. She seems unable to keep possession of her keys for more than a week.’

Selecting the correct key, she inserted it into the lock and twisted it until the door clicked open. She pushed the door open and dragged them both in, still holding onto Peter’s wrist.

Peter wasn’t quite sure how to process this new information and cluelessly followed her into the shop. Who just had a key to a shop?

‘Ah, Michelle. How have you been? I haven’t seen you in a while.’ A voice came from within the darkness somewhere.

‘Hey, Claudio. Been busy with studying and stuff but I’m good. How are you?’ Michelle replied in a friendly manner.

‘I’m good; business is good; it’s all good.’ He said with a laugh.

‘You have that annoyingly bright textbook that I kept complaining about at the start of the year, right?’ Michelle said, scanning the shelves for some other good reads, her hand occasionally coming up to stroke the spine of certain books that grabbed her interest.

A slight adjustment of Peter’s wrist drew Michelle’s attention back to the fact that it was currently enclosed within her hand. She gently dropped it, looking over to Peter with a small apologetic smile. He returned a sweet grin.

‘At the price it is, of course I still have it. Only desperate students would even consider buying it and most forget that there are things called bookshops and just order it online nowadays.’ Claudio said, walking into the view of the two stood near the shop front.

‘That’s good because we need it.’

‘We?’

Peter waved shyly at him.

‘Yes, we. I still stand by what I said at the start of the year, so we’re splitting the price to bring it down a bit.’ Michelle said with a small sigh of defeat.

‘Alright, let me find it quickly. It kept giving me a headache with that ludicrous colour so I had to move it.’ Claudio said surveying the shelves. ‘Aha, here it is. You know what, I’m going to give you two a discount for, both, being my favourite customers and because you’re doing me a huge favour buying it. I never want to see it again.’

‘That is going to be a mutual feeling, once I’ve finished this course.’ MJ responded in a sigh.

‘Same here.’ Peter piped up, having mostly recovered from his initial shock.

‘Alright then, do you two want me to split the price so you both pay separately or so you just pay together?’ Claudio asked, as he approached the cashier desk and the little book he was recording the day’s purchases with.

MJ looked over to Peter with a questioning look.

‘Probably separately. I’m lucky if I ever have any dollars on me.’

Michelle turned back to face Claudio.

‘Separately please. We can just transfer it from our phones if the whole no electricity thing is going to cause a problem.’

‘Ok. That sound good; let me get that set up for you. The lack of electricity has been causing a small problem for me and the surrounding shops, as I’m sure you have noticed.’ He waved his arm towards the window, indicating all the shut up shops unable to trade.

Once the book was safely in the hands of the teens and they were heading out the door, a sigh of relief came from both of them. The slight panic of not having the book was released and a comfortable feeling washed over the both of them.

‘I presume it would be best if the stupid textbook lived at my place. If you know that was… that was ok with you.’ Michelle stuttered, brushing a stray piece of her hair behind her ear.

No. Michelle never stuttered, she was always very articulate and knew exactly what she was going to say. She had always prided herself on her superb ability in the English lexicon and the way she could word things. What was Peter doing to her?

Wait. Peter wasn’t doing anything to her; it was him. The problem was not with her but with him, she concluded. He was just an anomaly. Something that couldn’t be helped, just a deviation from basically everyone she had ever met. He was kind and had decided to befriend her, something many people never stuck around long enough to do. Why had he decided to stick around?

‘Yeah. I was going to suggest that too. It would probably end up being eaten off if left in my apartment. When running out of plates and bowls, anything can become one for my roommates, you know?’ he replied, snapping Michelle out of her internal turmoil and running his hands through his hair.

‘Guess that’s one way to consume knowledge.’ She said with a small smile, ‘but if you do that with this book or any of mine you’re dead. Got it?’ she said with a semi-serious face.

‘Wouldn’t dream of it. Personally, I prefer to absorb knowledge, you know? I’m an expert at falling asleep on the books and just letting the information slowly filter itself into my brain.’

‘I think that at some point everyone has relied on that method. Desperate times call for desperate measure and all that.’

‘I can’t imagine you relying on that method much. You are always so organised.’

‘I rarely resort to that but like I said desperate times call for desperate measures.’ She said with a smile.

A suspiciously giggle-like laugh was shared between the two. Their feet continued in time with one another along the sidewalk.

The decreased amount of light pollution invading the sky created a clearer astronomical view than what the teens had grown up being used to. The stars looked down from the black canvas of the sky, the moon painted high up above.

Michelle stopped turning towards the apartment books that stood on their left, before turning back to Peter.

‘This is me. I think Betty’s out tonight but then again she might not be.’ Michelle wasn’t quite sure why she felt as nervous as she did. ‘Do you want to come in?’

Oh, that was why.


	5. Chapter 5

‘Do you want to come in?’

The question hung in the air.

The silence seemed almost too loud and Michelle’s fingers started to twist the key that was in her hand around and around.

It was just an innocent question but it was still crossing a line in their friendship that they had never gone over before. They had always met up at a mutual, neutral ground, the library, but never had they ventured into one of their places.

Michelle took a deep breathe.

Friends came round each other’s homes didn’t they? Friends liked spending time with one another and want to spend longer with the other person, that wasn’t unusual was it? Just friends. That’s all that she and Peter were. Just friends.

‘Ummm, sure. If that’s ok with you, of course.’ Peter said, after a moment’s silence.

‘Yeah, I mean I did ask after all.’ A pause. ‘Anyway, I live on the fourth floor and the stairs are not ideal so I hope you don’t mind a short ride on a worryingly creaky elevator.’ Michelle joked, hoping that her words covered up the slight uncertainty in her voice.

Michelle pushed open the door leading onto the main entrance of the block of apartments. Trailing after her, Peter made sure to gently shut the door behind him and wipe and dirt off of his shoes, not wanting to leave a mess.

‘Honestly, I think I would be more worried if it didn’t creak. The last time my one didn’t creak it had to be decommissioned for like two month because someone did something weird to it. It was always fun trying to lug grocery bags up five flights of stairs.’ Peter replied with a chuckle.

‘You’re place seems like a death trap. First your roommates seem to set it on fire on the daily and then the elevator has to be repaired for two weeks.’

‘Yeah but the chaotic atmosphere is what makes it fun. Well until you try to study in it. You have to leave to actually get some quiet but that didn’t seem to turn out to bad. I mean I met you.’ Peter said, his hand smoothing his waves down on his head.

Michelle turned to the elevator, pressing the button as a smile crept onto her face.

‘You know ‘chaotic’ gives the impression that the place is hay-wire and frenzied not ‘fun’ as you said.’ Michelle said matter-of-factly, entering the elevator as the doors pinged open.

‘That can be true most of the time but it’s weird, I don’t know how to describe it but it’s fun. You’ll have to see for yourself as some point.’

Peter followed Michelle onto the elevator smiling at her as he finished his sentence, before the two descended into a comfortable silence. The elevator’s creaks filled up the silence at random intervals, just like Michelle had promised.

They caught each other’s eye, playing a silent game of who could predict the next creak correctly. Michelle wasn’t entirely sure how the game had begun in the first place but she was enjoying it, silently hoping that somehow the elevator would keep going so they wouldn’t have to stop. She was also pretty certain she was winning.

Against all her wishes, the elevator pulled to a stop on her floor, opening its doors for them to exit through. Prompted by the robotic announcement of ‘the doors are now opening’, the two teens slowly walked out the doors and into the quiet corridor. It wasn’t often that Michelle ever saw any of her neighbours and sometimes she wondered if they even existed but that was an issue for another day.

Michelle led the way down to her door, finding the correct key on the set of three in her hands. Her door was previously white but now more of a cream colour, no fault of her own, and proudly displayed the number 42. The paint work was slightly chipped and peeling in places but that was down to the previous owners, who she had only met once despite supposedly only moving a few doors down to have a bit more space.

‘It’s not very tidy. We weren’t really expecting any visitors, not that I don’t want you here, I do, just don’t expect it to be all clean.’ She wasn’t entirely sure why she was trying to justify how it looked, she didn’t usually care. She carried on. ‘Normally when my roommates parents come over we have a good month and a half notice as they downsized soon after she moved in here but apart from that its mostly just us. So I’m just warning you, it might be quite a mess.’

She jammed the key into the lock, willing herself just to shut up. As she twisted the key she was weighing up the pros and cons of Betty being home. On one hand she really hoped she was, she was always the most sociable person out of them both and helped keep the awkwardness to a minimum but at the same time she really hoped she was out seeing Ned, at least that is what she thought Betty called him, because bringing a boy home had different connotations to the reality she was in.

The answer was revealed as the door swung open to an empty flat.

Betty was out.

As she walked in a faint chuckle caused her to turn around with a questioning look.

‘I though you said it was messy. If my apartment looked like this my Aunt would think a miracle had happened. When I was little, the only reason my room would ever be clean is if I had lost something, although sometimes that just made it worse, or because I needed some sort of l leverage for something.’

‘Does your aunt visit often?’ MJ questioned, placing her stuff down next to the couch in the lounge and gesturing for Peter to do the same.

‘Yeah, I’m pretty sure my roommates prefer her over me. Think they only keep me around so that she comes over. While she can’t cook to save her life, she’s amazing at basically everything else, including baking somehow.’ Peter said with a smile.

‘I’m sure they like you too.’

‘Nope, I distinctly remember Flash saying he only liked me because May brought us cookies to share one time. Brad agreed with him.’

‘Wow. You said you have four roommates; the other two didn’t agree so you still have half your roommates liking you.’

‘One of them was out and the other has been my best friend since we was tiny so he’s sort of stuck with me now.’

‘I feel sorry for him. Having you around for that long must have been torture.’

‘Hey.’ Peter’s mouth morphed into an over-exaggerated pout. ‘That’s mean.’

‘Oh dear, what am I going to do?’

The overly expensive textbook was placed gently on the table.

‘You know, you’re just as stuck with me now. You can never escape.’ He said, offering her a huge smile as he stepped slightly towards her.

‘I would say that alliances like ours could easily break down but we just bought a book together and that seems to solidify the relationship here. Also, if I’m stuck with you, you’re also stuck with me and I don’t know who that is worse for.’ She said pointing back and forth between her and Peter.

‘You. I don’t mind being stuck with you. You on the other hand have to put up with me. I wish you luck on this difficult journey.’ He laughed.

His laugh was so freshening to her, like a breath of fresh air. That was so cliché and she hated clichés but it seemed to fit so well; she was just going to have to suck it up this once. It made her feel lighter inside in a way she wouldn’t ever be able to explain, no matter how much more advanced her already prospering vocabulary became. It also made her laugh or at least crack a smile, something rare but becoming more frequent now she was finding her own way in the world.

‘So we can study more if you want or see if somethings on my laptop if you want like a film. I don’t mind so it’s up to you.’ Michelle said, slightly shrugging her shoulders too show her lack of preference either way.

‘Studying. Fun. A balance.’

‘What?’

‘Star Wars. You know when Rey says ‘Light. Darkness. And balance.’

‘I’ve never seen it.’

‘What! Now you’ve said that, we are going to have to change it. You have to see the cinematic excellence called Star Wars.’

‘I’m only going to agree to this because I’ve already watched everything I want that’s being shown at the moment. But next time we watch something, it’s my choice.’

‘Deal.’

‘You want to come and collect some snacks from the kitchen with me?’ She made her way around to the kitchen and more specifically the cupboard. She assumed it was a yes from Peter as her followed her. ‘We have got chips, ice cream or popcorn. Well technically the popcorn is my roommates and she has said I’m not allowed to eat it but you’re not me so you can eat it.’

She placed a large bag of chips and a bag of sweet and salted popcorn on the counter, before she looked up at Peter, waiting for an answer.

‘Ummm…’

‘On second thoughts, let’s just have it all. We’re basically adults now; we can make our own dietary choices, even if it is junk food after pizza.’

Michelle retrieved two bowls from the cupboard, feeling glad she had finally given in and washed the large stack of dishes that had built up in the sink yesterday. After grabbing two spoons out the cutlery drawn, she quickly got the ice cream out the freezer, hoping to keep any of its remaining coldness inside the freezer. They were going to have to deal with all the defrosted food at some point but that wasn’t a problem for right now.

‘You do like cookies and cream, right?’ she questioned, scooping all that was left of the ice cream into the two bowls.

‘Yes.’

‘Good. I don’t think I could be friends with you if you didn’t. All bonds need a strong foundation of the love of the same ice cream flavour. Is this amount okay? It’s already half melted so we might as well eat it all but I can have more if you don’t want that much.’

‘Nah. That seems fine to me, thanks.’

‘Ok, we’re all set for the movie. Do you want to take the food to lounge, while I get my laptop. We can put it on the table in there.’

‘Ok.’

Michelle followed Peter out of the kitchen, before making her way into her room. Sat on her desk was, thankfully, her fully charged laptop. She took a deep breath, grabbed it up off her desk and made her back into the lounge.

Peter had placed the snacks on the table and sat down on the couch closest to it. It was the smaller of the two couches but it was a lot softer and comfier in Michelle’s opinion.

Michelle sat down next to him, with a reasonable gap of course, pulled a blanket up off the floor and put her laptop on the table next to the snacks. She opened both bags of snacks and reached for her bowl of ice cream, Peter’s already located in his lap.

The familiar theme tune sounded out from the little speakers, filling the room. She could see the scrolling words reflected in Peter’s swirling brown eyes. His little waves of hair falling over his forehead until a swift movement of his head threw them back up, mixing with the other hairs.

She was quite enjoying the film but she hadn’t notice how enthralled by it she was until something small hit her face. She whipped her head around to see Peter smiling cheekily at her. Laying on her blanket was a lone kernel of popcorn. She picked it up and popped it into her mouth.

‘Thought your roommate said you weren’t supposed to eat her popcorn.’

‘She won’t care by the morning. Her mind will be on other things. I can guarantee that.’ Michelle reached into the bag, grabbing some popcorn and chucking it towards Peter.

The only option was to retaliate.

They were only brought to a cease fire when Peter’s phone beeped.

‘I thought better of you, having your phone on while a movie is playing. Shame on you.’ Michelle tried to hold a stern tone of voice but it was no use, her laughter was stronger.

Peter looked down at his phone to read the message he had received.

‘Have they set the place on fire again and request your assistance?’

‘Nope, quite the opposite actually. They’ve kicked me out for the night. Think they all have people round or something. See what I meant earlier, they only want me for May and her cookies.’

‘I’m starting to believe you more now. You can just crash on the sofa if you want tonight. I mean my roommate should be back by morning but then I guess you get to meet her too.’

‘Thank you so much. You sure you’re alright with me sleeping here?’

‘Yeah, it’s fine. Anyway, I think I might need to get some of this popcorn out of my hair. I’ll be back in a minute.’ Michelle got up, while Peter laughed.

It was only when she came back into the room that Peter wasn’t only shaking because of laughter but he seemed to be shivering a little bit. Trust Peter not to tell her when he was cold because he thought it would be an inconvenience.

‘You know if you wanted a blanket you could have asked for one.’

‘Yeah but blankets take ages to warm up.’ He replied, as Michelle sat down next to him.

She muttered a little ‘fuck it’ under her breath, before shuffling closer to Peter, draping the blanket over him as well.

‘Thanks.’

The next movie began to play, neither of them being bothered to stop it and both of them being content to just stay where they were and watching another film.

It was only once the second set of credits rolled over the screen and a little ‘low battery’ message appeared at the bottom right of the screen that the two actively moved out of their position.

Peter and Michelle had ended up sitting side to side, trying to conserve as much heat as possible in the heating-less apartment. The foot closest to the other person had managed to wrap itself around the other persons after they had grown tired of kicking each other back and forth after Peter did it by accident while subtly changing his sitting position to get comfier.

Michelle stretched her arms above her head with a yawn.

‘That was fun but I think I need to go to bed. Beauty sleep and all that stuff.’ She said with a second yawn.

As she slowly made her way to bed she could have sworn she heard Peter sleepily slurred something along the lines of ‘you don’t need beauty sleep’.

And if her heartrate spiked at that and butterflies swooped around in her stomach, well no one needed to know that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!  
> Sorry this is up so late. Things got a bit busy. Also sorry if the Star Wars reference is wrong, I tried to research it but I was a bit time limited.  
> Thank you so much for reading and all the comments and kudos they all mean so much to me.  
> Just wanted to give you a quick warning that while I will try to get the next chapters up on schedule (Fridays for me) school has gotten more hectic and I've got loads of revision to do for quickly approaching exams so they might get uploaded late or a few days after.  
> Anyway, hope you found the latest chapter alright.  
> :)


	6. Chapter 6

Hearing the front door slam, Michelle’s confused brain swirled around as she forced open her eyes. Her phone read a time that she couldn’t quite recall but had swiftly concluded that it was too early to even consider being awake. She closed her eyes again.

‘MICHELLE!’

Her eyes flew open.

‘I told you not to eat my popcorn!’

Michelle relaxed. It was just Betty. No one was trying to murder her in her sleep or something equally as awful.

Betty’s silhouette suddenly appeared in MJ’s bedroom doorway, blocking out the majority of the light trying to filter in from the other rooms.

‘Popcorn.’

‘Wasn’t me.’ A slightly mumbled reply came.

‘Really?’ Betty replied in an accusatory tone.

‘Mostly.’ Another mumble came from her mouth.

‘If you didn’t eat my popcorn then who did? Because as far as I know it’s only me and you living here and it was there when I went out and now it’s gone.’

‘Gave it to Peter.’

‘Who?’

‘Library boy.’

‘What?’

‘I thought you were supposed to be clever. Peter ate your popcorn not me. No rules were broken. Now can I please just go back to sleep?’ The last part coming out as an almost whine.

‘No I’m not stupid. I got that far. I’m just surprised that he came over, well, that you let him come over.’

‘Shut up. It’s too early for this verbal attack on me and I’m too tired to think of any good comebacks and you know I don’t settle for half-decent ones.’

‘Fine. I’ll talk to you later but I need to know more about this Peter. I also need some proof that it wasn’t you that ate my popcorn. You know there will be consequences if I find out it was you.’

‘Betty, you’re on the verge of sounding like a mom talking to a lying child. If you want some proof and to know about Peter, go and talk to him yourself. He’s on the couch.’ Michelle sighed as she rolled over and closed her eyes, before the long awaited feeling of sleep started to wash over her.

Maybe telling Betty Peter was still in the apartment wasn’t the brightest idea and perhaps basically giving her free range to interrogate the poor, clueless boy was making her chances of ever seeing him again dwindle down to an almost dismal nothing but sleep. Beautiful sleep. The faint sound of their voices being the final lull her mind needed before drifting off completely.

* * *

When her eyes drifted open again, at a much more reasonable hour, her thoughts were immediately drawn to the rumbling noise emerging from her stomach. The gentle whir of the microwave blended with the gentle conversational chatter from the kitchen and drifted into her room.

Peter’s voice built up a warmth inside of MJ she didn’t quite know how to deal with. Running through her brain over and over again was that one line from the previous night. Did he actually think she was beautiful or was she looking too much into things again? Did he really say that or was it just something she imagined?

A deep breath momentarily cleared her mind, before a shiver took over her body. The electricity had obviously been fixed overnight. No matter how brilliant Betty, or Peter for that matter, was, there was no way they were getting the microwave to work without electricity. Another chill ran through her body. Why was it so cold?

Michelle pulled herself up into a sitting position on her bed. The temptation of the warm, comfortable bed was not strong enough, despite its compelling arguments. She stood up, allowing the cold air to swirl around her body until the coldness had driven all sleep from her body. She pulled on a pair of red and blue fluffy socks that had been lying neatly beside her bed and pulled on the hoodie, which had been carefully placed last night.

She took a deep breath and exited her bedroom, preparing herself for whatever was going to come next. Betty, an aspiring journalist, had her ways of getting information out of people and Peter seemed like an open book, mixed together the outcome did not seem good for MJ.

Peter was the first to notice Michelle’s arrival. A smile lit up his face.

‘Hey MJ. Thanks for letting me crash here last night.’

‘It’s fine Loser. You’re the best guest we’ve had. To be fair that’s not saying much but you can hold that title for now.’ MJ deadpanned.

Betty was sat watching the pair as they conversed with a scheming smile plastered on her face. Her little hand gestures, mimicking those of a child who was witnessing a friend talking to their crush, went unnoticed until they dangerously entered Michelle’s peripheral view.

Michelle’s head snapped away from the conversation she was having with Peter and she locked eyes with Betty, like a predator locking onto its prey. Betty’s hands fell motionless down to her sides, as Peter turned his head to face the pair completely unaware of the battle raging between MJ and Betty in silent glares.

Betty broke the silence.

‘I’ll leave it for now but you know I’m not dropping this,’ she turned around to tend to her piece of toast that had been left on the side, ‘and you can’t say I’m not the best person ever after this whole thing.’ She tacked on the end, waving her hand around the room.

‘Whatever.’ Michelle said, slumping down in the chair next to Peter and resting her head on her arms.

Peter’s confused face didn’t even rouse an explanation of what just happened out of her. Not even in all of it adorableness would it get a clarification of the situation.

The sound of a cup sliding across the counter drew MJ’s attention away from whomever ever it had wonder off to think about. She flicked her eyes up.

‘I’m going to Ned’s and I didn’t think it was fair to leave Peter with your pre-coffee state.’ Betty smiled sickly sweetly.

‘Fuck you,’ was MJ’s reply, after wrapping her hands round the cup (no way was she letting that coffee get out of her reach).

She took a sip of coffee.

‘You’re going to Ned’s again?’ MJ questioned.

‘Yes, you may be my best friend but I can have other friends, you know.’

‘I’m not saying you can’t. I’m just surprised people choose to spend time with you.’

‘You choose to, too.’ Betty said with a laugh,

‘You know too many of my secrets, have to keep you close.’

‘Yeah, well, he’s really sweet and it’s really cold here.’

‘Why is it so cold? We have access to a thermostat that we won’t get yelled at for getting within a metre radius of.’

‘We’re students’

‘Mhm.’

‘We have a budget.’

‘I know.’

‘And heating is an unnecessary luxury.’

‘I disagree.’

‘Yeah, well I’d prefer not to get into more debt than I’m already in. If you want warmth, you have to pay for it.’

‘When I die from hypothermia or something I’m relying on you to sue the education system for me.’

‘I’ll add it onto my list of things to sue them for.’

‘You heard that, right Peter.’ Michelle turned her head towards him, ‘You might have to act as some sort of witness or something.’

‘Loud and clear.’ Peter replied, chirpily.

‘Excellent. I still hate this cold though.’ MJ groaned.

‘Thought you said hate should be replaced with strongly despise. Anyway, didn’t think the cold was affecting you that much; I mean you look pretty cosy in that hoodie.’

‘It’s just an article of clothing, Betty.’

‘Yeah, just not yours.’

Michelle glanced quickly over at Peter and the slight dusting of pink spread over his cheeks.

‘Well Peter doesn’t seem to need it right now so I might as well put it to good use.’

‘Wasn’t going to mention how familiar the hoodie he is wearing was but now you’ve mentioned it. Did it ever reach you wardrobe after you left in the other room a few nights ago?’

‘Don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.’

‘Of course you don’t. Anyway, I’m leaving for Ned’s now. See you at some point.’

Betty turned towards the door, collecting her phone and wallet off the side.

‘Bye Betty.’

‘Bye Michelle. Make sure you’re safe.’ Betty said as she shut the front door.

A silence filled the apartment; it wasn’t uncomfortable just a stark contrast to when Betty was there. Michelle’s coffee cup stood completely empty on the side, having been drunk during her conversation. The kitchen had been left surprisingly clean and empty of clutter. Only then did she notice the smell of reheated pizza in the air that must have belonged to Betty’s breakfast. A small smile crept onto her face as the smell brought back the pizza she had shared with Peter the previous night.

Oh, right, Peter.

‘I’m sorry if Betty questioned you like a criminal or something, while I was asleep.’

‘It’s fine. I must admit it was a bit intimidating to begin with but we talked for a bit and she made me promise that I wasn’t going to kill you or something and then she offered me pizza. I hope you don’t mind me wearing you hoodie, I thought it would be fine but I probably should have asked you first, seeing as it is actually yours. I can take it off if you want…’

‘It’s fine Peter, I really don’t mind. I sort of stole your hoodie first so, you know, it’s not like I was going to be cold or something. Where did you get this hoodie from cause I need one this warm?’

‘I have no idea. Aunt May keeps just appearing with them; I got a whole closet full of them. It probably stemmed from when I was younger and got cold and then ill all the time and now I don’t live with her anymore she’s still trying to protect me and I really appreciate it but I’m starting to think there is a limit on the amount of hoodies one person needs and I have far exceeded it. In fact, you can keep that one, if you want to of course, you don’t have to.’

‘Thanks, makes my plan of you not realising when I never gave it back much easier. And you know I’ll need it if Betty keeps up this stupid no heating thing.’

‘I don’t think it’s quite no heating, just slightly limited.’

‘It doesn’t make much of a difference when I can’t feel my fingers.’

‘I guess that is a slight problem. I suppose it just means that you will have to spend more time at the nicely heated library with me once it opens up again. Well, if they fix the draughts that is.’

‘I hope they fix them, it would be stupid if they didn’t. I mean they are wasting all that energy heating the place then just letting it all escape. I will say the thing I miss the most about going to the library is that little coffee shops tea that you bring. You want to go there now?’

‘Yes but you do realise you had a drink from there yesterday, right?’

‘Yeah but it’s really good and yesterday was ages ago.’

A small chuckle burst out of Peter’s smile. She really did love that smile. It was just so… warming, for the lack of a better word. Its image etched into her mind; something she would never forget (or at least hoped she never would).

‘Let me just get ready quickly then we can head off. I don’t really want to be going out in my pyjamas.’

Michelle hopped off the chair she had been sitting on and made her way towards her bedroom door. Pushing it open with her foot, she entered the room and turned towards her wardrobe. Shutting the room door, she picked out a pair of her black skinny jeans and her favourite Joan of Arc top. She made sure to return Peter’s hoodie to her body and stuffed her feet into her black converse lined up neatly against the wall. She would never admit it but Peter’s hoodie still smelt a bit like him and it was a nice smell. She could smell his deodorant (why did boys’ deodorants last so much longer than girls?) but it wasn’t over powering, like the majority of boys she came across, and the subtle smell of a flower detergent mixed with it. The detergents smell almost fit the way Peter had described his aunt, gentle and refreshing, so it was likely that that was her influence.

MJ grabbed her phone off her bedside table and shoved it in her back pocket along with her purse, before exiting her room to find Peter. Peter had sat back down in the lounge but this time with his shoes on. He was inspecting the one set of photos that MJ and Betty had agreed on having on display. It was a small collage consisting of two small photos and one larger on in the middle.

The main picture was taken the summer after graduation when Betty had managed to convince both Michelle and her parents, a daunting task that most people would shy away from, that it would be a good idea for MJ to join her family on a short break to their family owned beach house on the other side of the country. It had been one of the best experiences of her life, everything was relaxing and calm. It was in the final few days of the holiday that the small group of four had decided to go on one of the nature trails that would spit them back out on the beach near their lodging. MJ and Betty were slightly ahead of Betty’s parents and had fallen into a conversation about all the stupid things they had seen their peers do and situations that had gotten themselves into that year and slowly began to discuss their plans for college, meanwhile Betty’s parents had started a conversation with a slightly older couple walking the trail too.

When they finished the trail, the couple insisted that it would be no trouble at all to take a picture of the little family of four. The picture of MJ and Betty with her parents just behind them all with smiles on their faces was sandwiched in between a photo of a small MJ and a small Betty on opposite sides. That had needed a lot more persuasion for MJ to agree but in the end she got an extra packet of her favourite snacks and all was fine. She rather liked that set of pictures now.

‘You were a cute baby.’

‘I’m not anymore? Were being past tense.’

‘You’re not a baby anymore, so the statement can no longer be completely correct and therefore past tense. Anyway, you ready to go to the café yet?’

Her brain seemed to short circuit. Had Peter actually meant what he had implied? Was she focusing on what he said too much again, for the second time this morning?

‘Umm, yeah… yeah. Sure.’

Michelle picked up her keys from the side and walked out the door, Peter following behind her. After turning round to lock the door, she turned back to Peter, whose eyes seems to have been tracing the outlines of her face but now were focused on the floor, drawing attention to red spotted along his cheeks and tips of his ears.

‘You good there?’

‘Yeah, yeah. Onward to the café.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> I'm so sorry it took so long for me to get this chapter out. I was planning to get it out quite a while ago but something happened that caused my writting schedule to be thrown out the window and after it I was finding it really hard to get into a writing mindset. The next few/final few (I haven't decided yet) chapters are still going to be a bit delayed as I have exams both this month (February) and in May/June, hopefully they will still have shorther waiting times than this one.
> 
> This chapter was actually supposed to have a lot more narrative in it but that would have made it ridiculously long and even later than this already was so sorry for that.
> 
> Thank you all for reading,  
> :)
> 
> If I take too long shout at me on [Tumblr](http://mj-peter-ned.tumblr.com) or something. (mj-peter-ned if I managed to mess up the link again)


	7. Chapter 7

Walking side by side down the corridor and out onto the street, the pair remained in their usual in-between comfortable and slightly uncomfortable silence. It must have been one of their talents. Michelle watched as Peter’s hands seemed to retreat up into her (well, his now) hoodie before making a reappearance a few seconds later, almost like a robot with only one coded action.

‘You alright there, Peter?’

‘Yeah, I’m good. Just thinking about stuff.’

‘Thinking can be dangerous.’

With a light chuckle, he replied, ‘very.’

Their arms seemed to swing by their sides like a mirror image of the other but their hands were too timid to approach their reflection. The cool air of the morning wasn’t unbearably cold unlike some of the recent ones. But instead it provided a waking up to anyone still drowsy but didn’t nip and bite at fingers and toes.

As their feet kept their steady rhythm, the streets began to morph from the more accommodation centred region to the pair being surrounded by the shops and buildings that came with heading towards the heart of the city, before they took a sharp turn heading back out towards the outskirts. The library, that had become their neutral meeting place (and a reason to be in the presence of one another, even if neither of them would admit it), stood tall among the other buildings before moving past them as they rounded the corner to the coffee shop.

As the coffee shop door gently swung open, the little bell gave out a small tintinnabulation. Peter and MJ were immediately wrapped in the warmth of the shop as the door closed behind them, a greatly appreciated change to the temperature of their morning. A few customers were dotted around the tables; the majority of them doing their own little things, apart from two boys who were quietly debating about the book that was sat in the middle of their table. The whole café had a very homely feeling and the scent of coffee and old books drifted around the room.

MJ turned slightly turned her head and came face to face with a large book shelf containing a wide range of books, including many of those that sat on her bookshelf at home but also ones that had caught her eye several times but a college budget sadly didn’t allow for.

‘You want your normal tea or do you want to try something else?’ Peter asked, drawing her out of her daze reading all the book titles.

‘Normal, please.’

‘Ok. You know, you can read the books while you’re drinking your drinks in here, if you want to go and find a table, I’ll order the drinks then come find you.’

‘Ok.’

Michelle grabbed the book that had initially grabbed her attention. It had a relatively medium sized width and its font size was not overly large or small. Its cover contained two colours that conveyed a pleasing contrast, almost a quiet conflict between the two colours. She gently placed the book down at one of the table for two before sitting down herself.

‘…so that’s MJ.’ One of the baristas voices spoke a bit too loudly, the volume catching MJ’s attention.

She looked up towards the counter where Peter was standing to see him trying to get them to shut up entirely or at least quieten down. A small amount of heat rushed over her cheeks before settling itself down, bringing a slight rosy tinge to her face. She opened the book and tried to get herself to focus on the words staring at her from the page but to no avail. Her brain wanted to lock onto the conversation Peter was having, ignoring all of her silent pleas to just read the damn book.

‘…please just stop.’

‘Sorry, Peter but what else are we supposed to do when you finally bring in the girl you freaked out about not knowing the name of the other day?’

‘I just didn’t want to look like an idiot when I came back without a named cup. Anybody would freak out.’

MJ remembers the smiley face drawn on her cup, looking back on it, it looked suspiciously like a winking face but at the time she had put that down to the fact that it was just drawn in a matter of seconds. Had Peter actually freaked out about not knowing her name?

‘No, Peter. Nobody would be that nervous giving a tea to a friend. You were actually vibrating.’

‘Shut up. She’s just my friend. She’s amazing but we’re just friends.’

Did Peter only see her as a friend? Why did that matter so much to her? The words on the page in front of her seemed to bleed together into one mass of blackness but she still shoved her head into it more.

‘Aw, look at those little red cheeks. Do I need to remind you of the fact that never have you bought a drink from here for someone else willingly and you’ve done it at least three times for her and the last person you came here with was Ned like last year and even then he paid for his own drink?’

‘That doesn’t prove anything. I disrupted her studying and no one has time for that in college. Anyway, what about when it was just me in here and you and Connie were giving each other heart eyes and then disappeared for a good ten minutes or more?’

‘We’re not talking about me now; we’re talking about you and MJ.’

‘Why?’

‘Cause it’s funny to watch you try and come up with answers on the spot.’

‘You’re mean.’

‘You said that a few days ago as well when I said I didn’t think it was a good idea for you to have another coffee.’

‘Just so you know I’m still upset at you because of that.’

‘So just because I was worried about you’re intake of caffeine and sugar you hate me?’

‘Yes. And financially, surely, it would have been better just to sell me the drink and get more money than stopping me.’

‘I’m not so sure about that. You see, really I’m a mastermind. I have to keep you just alive enough for you to still buy lots of coffee and keep coming back for more. And now that I’m thinking about it, if I had of let you have that coffee the other day, you would have become ill again or at least nauseous enough to stay home and then you wouldn’t have met MJ and then you wouldn’t have become so in love with her and then you wouldn’t have brought her here and then you would only be buying one drink instead of two every time you came. So when you actually think about it I am an amazing business person.’

‘So what you’re telling me is you were doing me a favour by not letting me have coffee, which lead me to falling asleep at the library and ruining MJ’s notes?’

‘Yes and when you get married in the future, I want you to remember me and think that you for not giving me that extra coffee.’

‘She might not even want to get married when she’s older. You don’t have to get married to live a life full of love.’

‘I swear you’re just parroting a rant I had at that annoying man a few months back but we’re not going there right now. We’re going to think about how you didn’t deny it and I see your point so I am going to rephrase my last statement. When you and MJ are living your happy life together, however you may choose to, watching sunsets and taking afternoon strolls, or whatever, I want you to remember that barista you hated who didn’t give you a coffee.’

‘You know, those drinks I ordered are taking a long time. Do you think you can get double the amount of free cookies as compensation for them taking this long?’

‘No, I don’t but you should really get back to MJ, don’t want her to think you’ve abandoned her or something.’

‘You’re mean.’

‘And your vocabulary seems to be lacking greatly. Maybe you should talk to MJ about widening it.’

‘Shut up. I’m leaving now.’

MJ lifted her head slightly to see Peter heading towards her with two cups in his hands and a slightly reddened face. When he was close enough not to trip over a drop the drinks, he looked up, catching her eye. His cheeks grew a shade darker but a smile lit up his face.

‘Sorry it took so long, I didn’t mean to keep you waiting but I’m here often enough that they know me personally here and they seem to like giving me advice and opinions on things.’

‘It’s fine, I didn’t mind that much. I was… er… reading, as you can probably see.’ MJ replied, lifting the book in her hands a few centimetres off the table to emphasise her point.

Looking down at the book in her hands, she hoped that Peter hadn’t noticed that she was still only on the first page of the actual story. She didn’t think she had ever been so grateful to the large amount of pages at the beginning containing publishing notes and title pages.

The cup in front of her was giving off the irresistible scent of tea, focusing the majority of her attention on it and it only. Maybe a small part of her focus was on the boy in front of her but that bit was going to be ignored for now. Or maybe forever.

‘This place has been a saving grace for me. Don’t think I would have made it this far through college without it.’

‘I can’t believe I’ve never come across this place before and that you didn’t tell me how amazing it was the first time you brought me tea from here.’

‘I like to think it’s one of best secrets of the city. If too many people knew about it, it just wouldn’t be the same.’

‘Yeah, don’t want the annoying ones finding out how good the drinks are in here, they’ll completely ignore the whole book side of it, which I love.’

‘Same. I must admit that I haven’t had much time to read recently, amount of college work ramping up and all that.’

‘Sometimes I think my professor forgets that we actually have to sleep and eat to be mostly functioning human beings.’

A light chuckle came from Peter. She really did like that sound, for whatever reason.

‘To be fair, I don’t think some of the people in my classes would become mostly functioning humans even with enough sleep.’

A smile pushed its way onto Michelle’s face, creating small wrinkles by the sides of both of her eyes.

The barista, who Michelle recognised as the one that Peter had been talking to earlier, made their way towards the pairs table, with a large smile spread across their face.

‘Hi Peter,’ they turned to face MJ, ‘and you must be MJ. I’ve heard a lot about you.’

MJ drew her mouth up into a small smile, as once again she felt heat rise to her cheeks. Why did that always have to happen?

Peter, on the other hand, had turned his head to face the barista with a sort of unimpressed face. It was an expression that she hadn’t seen grace peter’s face before but it was definitely still cute. Cute?

‘Anyway, I thought you two deserved some compensatory cookies for how long your drinks took. Normally we have better service but sometimes people think they know better and it takes a bit of time to sort out the issue.’

As the barista placed a small plate of cookies on the table in between the pair, MJ glanced over towards Peter once again. His facial expression hadn’t changed much but his eyes did seem to be trying to pierce a hole straight through the barista.

‘Thank you.’ Michelle said, still trying to figure out the exact reason behind Peter’s expression.

‘No problem. Hope you two have a good day.’ They turned to leave before suddenly turning back, ‘Oh, almost forgot to apologise for all the cookies being heart-shaped, it was the best we could do today.’

As the barista made their way back towards the service counter, Peter and MJ were once again left alone at their table. The plate of cookies was sat almost exactly in the middle of the table and contained a small pile of heart-shaped cookies, just as Riley (as the name tag on the barista had read) had said.

The clock on the wall continued to tick and the plate of cookies were slowly reduced to a small pile of crumbs, while the two whispered back and forth, being careful to not disrupt the customers around them. The book that had been in MJ’s had lay closed and unread at the side of the table. Its world to be explored another day.

‘We should probably leave this place soon. They don’t really seem like the people to chuck you out for being in for too long but it’s probably not best to get banned from here, especially as I am planning to come back here.’ MJ spoke softly.

‘Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. I won’t survive without their coffee.’

Neatly placing their used cups and cookie plate on the table providing easy access for the person cleaning the tables, they gathered their items up. Pete and Michelle made their way towards the door, only stopping to give a small wave to the barista, who called out after them.

‘Bye Peter, bye MJ. Come back soon and be safe.’

Once again walking through the streets, the pair were walking side by side. Peter’s hands had reverted to their automated advancing and retreating back into the hoodie’s sleeves.

‘Thinking again?’

‘Sort of.’

Silence fell over the pair.

Peter took a large breath.

‘You want to come back to my place? It might be a bit warmer than out here and, well, your place too. You can meet my roommates. If you want of course, you don’t have to.’

MJ took a deep breath.

‘OK, which way is it to yours?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it took so long again. It wasn't supposed to take how long it did but I was busy then I stressed myself out over exams to the point that I couldn't concentrate anything properly, even when I wanted to.
> 
> I'm also sorry that this chapter isn't very good but I really just wanted to get something out as soon as I could.
> 
> Thank you for all being so patient.
> 
> You may have noticed I have put this as having 9 chapters when it is finally finished as that is what I am planning at the moment but the likelihood of that changing is quite high.
> 
> As it turns out I no longer have my exams this summer and I expect to be off school until September with basically no work or homework to do so I am going to try and write more but I can't make any promises.
> 
> I hope you are all coping in these uncertain times and that you are all doing well.


End file.
